Weeping Samurai | Uchiha Itachi [Editing]

Chapter 6: Madness

There were many hot spring resorts in the Iron, but they were so expensive Shiro never had enough money to even go near such a place.  Even as a child in the village of Umi Gai, she was oblivious to what a hot spring even was.  

The deal with the Akatsuki team itself was a pain in the ass to do, even though she needed the guidance to the Land of Paddies to rescue her sister, but this resort thing was certainly one of its perks.

Shiro sunk her skinny body into the water for what seemed like an eternity of peace before there was a slight knock on the wall that separated the men from the women.

"Musei-san," Itachi's voice was muffled by the wooden wall as he called over to her, "are you ready to go?"

"Hai." Shiro sighed as she peeled the towel from her face and reluctantly tore herself away from the spring.  She lifted herself up from the water and wrapped herself in her towel before going inside the locker room once more.

She disposed of her used towels and retrieved a fresh robe from the linen closet.  She dressed herself in the plush robe, gathered her things, and slipped on her shoes to reunite with her team.

Shiro waited outside the men's locker room for a few moments before Itachi came out, also dressed in the same white attire.  From the large gap in the robe, Shiro saw the man's lean chest and abs, making her blush her already flushed face and averted her eyes.  Itachi took no notice of this, though.

"Kisame will be a few more minutes," the shinobi informed her plainly as he stared at her.  "so he gave me an extra key to the room so we can get ready for the dinner."

"Sounds good." Shiro nodded once and Itachi led the way to the room.

At the end of the hallway on the second floor, Itachi unlocked a door and held it open for Shiro, who walked inside the room without a glance at the man.  She slipped off her shoes and trod over to the bathroom where she immediately shut and locked the door.  She peeled away her robe and dressed herself back in her white kimono, tying the dress securely with the white ribbon.  She hung her used robe on the wall hook before taking her cloak and swords, walking back out into the main room.

"Looks like the food isn't here yet." Itachi muttered as he sat on the ground in front of the glass door.  It overlooked the valley, which seemed to have been bare and unappealing when they trekked through it, but when looking at it from a higher angle, Shiro's breath was taken away on how beautifully carved the rocks were.

"It's alright." Shiro shrugged as she sighed, mesmerized by the sight before her.  "I'm not hungry anyways."

Itachi turned his head around slightly to look at her.

"You need to eat," he said simply, his eyes looking up and down at her figure.  "No offense, but you look like a bag of bones."

Shiro's eye twitched in annoyance.

"I'm not exactly the wealthiest person on this planet," she snarled back harshly.

"Which is why you need to eat now," Itachi grunted as he turned his head back calmly.  "To build up strength."

"Strength?" Shiro scoffed as she crossed her arms.  "I don't need any more power.  I went along just fine with minimum amounts of food and even less in my days at the Iron.  I'm sure I can take of myself."

"Orochimaru is unlike anyone you have ever seen," Itachi murmured softly, his onyx eyes gazing out into the breathtaking landscape.  "Tell me, Musei-san.  Have you ever seen a ninja in battle?"

The question caught her off guard.  She blinked her wide dark eyes and sighed.

"No," she muttered, "as an Iron native, I've seen nothing but swords and tools.  The Land of Iron doesn't depend on ninja to protect its borders."